This paper presents a new type electromagnetic lead screw (EMLS) intended for wave energy application. Similar to the mechanical lead screw, this electromagnetic version can transfer slow linear motion to high-rotational motion, offering gearing effects. Compared with the existing pure magnetic lead screw (MLS) employing permanent magnets only, the new EMLS proposed uses dc current to provide the required helical-shape magnetic field, offering a much simpler, robust structure compared with the MLS. The working principle and the performances of this EMLS are analyzed in this paper. Comparison with PM-type lead screw is given. In addition to this, the theoretical analysis to support the use of a 2-D finite element model to analyze the 3-D magnetic-type lead screw is given, which has not been well covered in the existing literature.